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and two nuts.

THOMAS THOMPSON,l OF NIV ERSVILLE, YORK.

MACHINE FOR FOLDING PAPER, 85C.

Specification of Letters Patent No. 14,260, dated February 12, 1856.

T0 all whom t may concern Be it known that I, THOMAS THOMPSON, of Niversville, in the county of Columbia and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Machine for Folding Oloth, Paper, Vadding, &c.; and I do hereby declare that the same is described and represented in the following specification and drawings.

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use my invention I will proceed to describe its construction and operation referring to the drawings in which the same letters indicate like parts in each of the figures.

Figure l, is a front elevation with one door open. Fig. 2, an end elevation with the door removed.

The nature of my invention consists in the construction and arrangement o-f a forming block, and a pair of rollers so arranged as to draw the paper, cloth, wadding, etc., or other materials from the machines upon which they are made, or from a roll, over the forming block, so as to double it together as it passes between the rollers.

In the above mentioned drawings A, A are two sills connected at each end by the cross sills B, B, so as to form an oblong` rectangular frame to which most of the other parts are either connected or fastened.

The semicircular frame O, is fastened to the sill A and supported by the brace D, one end of which is fastened to the sill A, and the other is provided with a screw One of them is seen at D', the other is obscured by the frame C, which the brace passes through and through the bar O when the other nut is applied so that by turning the nuts the frame O may be vibrated so as to change the position of the block E and roller J to adapt it to the rollers below, so that the strain or draft may be uniform across the width of the material folded.

The forming block E may be made in the form represented in the drawing-that is, the surface over which the paper or cloth is drawn and folded, should be shaped so as to fill or partially ill, a cavity formed in an oblong piece of paper or cloth by holding one end fiat, and folding the other end together, so that its exterior will form a triangular pyramid. It is not necessary that the forming block should fill the cavity at the end of the paper which is held flat; but it is preferable when it is made to fill the cavity entirely at the end which is folded together. This forming block E, is fastened to the frame C, in the position represented, anda board fastened to the back of it which projects a little way upon each side as represented at F, so as to form casings to receive the hinges of the door G, which is shown closed, and the door G, which is shown open in Fig. l, and omitted entirely in Fig. 2.

The stands H, H, are fastened to the board F, so as to project above it and support the journals of the roller I, which contains the paper to be folded, and the journals of the roller J, over which the paper passes from the roller I, to the forming block E, over which it is doubled and folded so as to pass between the rollers K, and K',` by which it is drawn down over the forming block E, and delivered to the rollers L, L, after which it may be wound, cut or folded as may be preferred. The roller I is provided with a friction pulley to which a strap may be applied s o as to resist the drawing offl of the paper or cloth from the roller.

The journals at the rear ends of the rollers K, K, turn in the stationary box M, fastened to the sill A. The journals at the front ends of these rollers turn in the movable box N, which rests on the spiral springs O, O, placed between the box and t-he sill A, as shown in the drawing; the box being connected to the sill by the screws P, P, so that it can be adjusted higher or lower by turning the screws, (which are shown in dotted lines,) and set so as to make the draft as near uniform as may be across the width of the paper after it is folded, or adapt the draft to the paper being worked, or the circumstances under which the machine is working. These rollers and the machine may be operated by a crank pulley or gear fastened to the journal of the roller K, or to each of their journals if preferred ;A the roller K is pressed toward the roller K, and against the wadding, paper or cloth acted upon, so as to grip it and draw it over the forming block by two springs which act upon the journals of the roller, one of which springs is shown at S, Fig. l, the bearings in the boxes M and VN for the journals of the roller K, being elongated so as to allow the roller K, to be moved toward or from the roller K, to suit the thickness of the material being folded by the machine.

The pulley It, on the rear journal of the roller K, carries the belt T, to lturn the pulley L2, on the journalof the roller L, so as to operate said roller whose journals turn in boxes U, U, fastened to the under side of the sills A, A.

The stands V, V, are fastened to the sills A, A, andare provided wit-h elongated slots for the journals of the roller L, which is pressed toward the roller L, and against the wadding paper or cloth between them by the springs W, W, as shown in the drawing, which are fastened to the sills.

The interior of the doors Gr, G, are made t0 correspond with the forming block E so that when the doors are closed and fastened by the hooks Y, Y, there will be a small space between the doors and the forming block, for the paper to pass down, which space is filled next to the board F, upon each side by vibrating guide bars one of which is shown at z, being fastened to the board F, near the top and vibrated by the screw e', which turns in the board F and is provided with a score near the point for a plate which is fastened to the bar z, so as to traverse the lower end and adjust it to suit the width of the material being folded, so as to forni the fold, or double it in the center between 'the two edges. The board F, and block E, are steadied by the bar O, fastened to the stand O,

This machine may be arranged to take the paper wadding or other material directly from the machine which makes it; and t-he forming block E, may be made hollow of metal and heated so as to aid in drying the paper or other material folded; and if it is desirable to fold it more than once a forming block may be arranged below the roller K so as to receive the paper from the roller K and fold it for a pair of rollers arranged at right angles to roller K, thus it may be folded several times by a series of forming blocks and rollers, arranged either perpendieularly one below another or horizontally, one beyond another.

If taking the paper from the roller K, to the roller L, should bend the upper half so short as to wrinkle it, the size of roller K, may be increased, or the paper may be passed around or between a series of rollers arranged in the arc of a circle so as to bend it gradually and render it less likely to be wrinkled in folding.

I contemplate that my invention may be applied to folding wadding paper, cloth, leather, india rubber, gutta percha and other materia-ls, and that competent artisans will be able to make such alterations as may be necessary to adapt it to the purposes for which they intend-to use it without departing from its principles or merits.

I believe I have described the construction, operation and use of my invention so as to enable any person skilled in the art to make and use the same; I will now specify what I desire to secure by Letters Patent to wit, namely:

I claim- The forming block in combination with the follers K, and K, so constructed and arranged as to draw the material to be folded over said block and fold it substantially as described.

THOMAS THOMPSON.

IVitnesses:

JAMES MILLER, IJVILLIAM KIRK. 

